Reasons for leaving the politics of the Prime Minister of Thailand became known

Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-Ocha on Monday, July 11, announced that he would not seek re-election as head of government and would withdraw his candidacy 2 days before the vote in Parliament. Prayut will also leave the Ruam Thai Sang Chat (Thai Nation United Party) party. He made such a decision after his nearly 10-year reign as a popular country among Russian tourists. In the meantime, the politician will continue to act as prime minister until a new cabinet is created.

The 69-year-old head of the Thai government published his resignation on July 11 on the social network. In it, Prayut Chan-Ocha thanked his fellow citizens for their many years of support and summed up his reign. “As prime minister, I have dedicated myself to the defense of the nation, religion and monarchy and worked for the good of my beloved people,” he wrote, listing the principles known as the three pillars of this Southeast Asian country. “From now on, I am leaving politics.” Prayut also called for future voting for the Ruam Thai Sang Chat (Thai Nation United Party), which he is now leaving.

The former premier added that he enjoyed his short stint in the Thai Nation United Party’s election campaign, which won 36 seats in the 500-member House of Representatives. The party said it would not nominate Prayut or party leader Pirapan Salirathavibhagi.

Recall that Prayut Chan-o-cha came to power back in May of the distant 2014, when, being the commander of the Royal Thai Forces (Land Army of the country – ed.), he staged a military coup and was declared prime minister of the formed interim military government. In 2019, Prayut’s supporters from the Phalang Pracharat (People’s State Force) party, which was specially created with the support of the Thai military and the prime minister who had already left the army, won elections to the House of Representatives, the lower house of parliament.

It is also not surprising that in the upper chamber, the composition of which was determined by the military government, there were senators completely loyal to Prayut. The prudently adopted new constitution and election law in 2017-2018 contributed to a favorable outcome for the retired general. According to the results of the joint vote of both chambers, he was elected in a relatively democratic way and retained the chair of prime minister for another 5 years. “Comparatively democratic” because Chan-Ocha went on to change the law, appoint “his” people to key posts and create a new party so that one could run from it.

But luck smiles at no politician forever, no matter how cunning, talented and far-sighted he may be. She left Prayut Chan-Ocha in May 2023, when another party, created with his knowledge just a few months before the start of the national vote, Ruam Thai Sang Chat, suffered a serious defeat from the rival opposition parties Forward Movement and Phya Thai “(For the Sake of Thailand”). If they got 151 and 141 seats in the House of Representatives, respectively, then Ruam Thai Sang Chat got only 36. The gap, of course, is impressive. This wake-up call, indicating Prayut’s loss of support from the general population and a growing desire for change, primarily in domestic politics, could be one of the main reasons why Chan-o-cha decided to voluntarily abandon further struggle for the premiership.

However, if the politician did not withdraw his candidacy 2 days before the vote in parliament, he would still have chances for re-election, albeit not so high. To do this, he, firstly, had to be supported in the Senate, which includes 250 people whose term of office is one year longer than that of elected deputies of the House of Representatives: 5 years instead of four. There is no doubt that the vast majority of senators would have voted for Prayut: as we remember, people loyal to him were appointed there by the military government. Secondly, his fellow party members, who were now in the minority, had to give their votes for Chan-Ocha. With this, presumably, there would be no problems either. And now, in this unfulfilled near future, Prayut triumphs, and his main rival and the leader of the victorious Forward Movement Party, Phitha Limcharenrat, is forced to retreat …

However, if Prayut Chan-o-cha retained the chair of the prime minister for the third time, political instability would be, if not guaranteed, then quite likely. The fact is that Thai youth, the main electorate of the “Move Forward”, in 2020 already took to the streets across the country, demanding the resignation of the irremovable prime minister. The protesters accused the government of failing to fulfill its promise to restore democracy and suppress civil rights and freedoms. Nothing would have prevented them this time from organizing large-scale protests that could plunge the country into confrontation with the prime minister’s supporters, up to a bloody civil war. Having come to power as a result of internal instability and the political crisis of 2014, Prayut Chan-o-cha hardly wanted to become the culprit of new upheavals.

There is a third possible reason for Prayut’s refusal to continue fighting for the post of head of government. This is the need to step down in 2025 after the deadline for serving as prime minister. He is 8 years old. According to the decision of the Constitutional Court of Thailand, the time when the politician led the military government in the period 2014-2019 should not be taken into account, and the powers of the now former prime minister should be counted from the moment the new constitution was adopted – 2017. It turns out that if Prayut Chan-Ocha were re-elected now, he would still remain in power only part of the term. And then – the next elections and the struggle for control of the government between candidates from other parties.

Titinan Pongsudhirak, a political scientist and director of the Institute for Security and International Studies at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, said Prayut’s resignation “represents a defeat for the military regime” and could be seen as “an incentive for pro-democracy advocates.”

“For many Thais, Prayut’s departure from politics is overdue. He seized power in May 2014, and has ruled a lackluster military government for five years and another shaky elected government since 2019 thanks to a military-drafted constitution,” Titinan said in an interview with CNN. “Thailand is showing signs of economic stagnation, political decline and the lowest international standing ever.” This could potentially help Move Forward leader Phitha Limcharenrath and his chances of forming a government after the election.

Maybe the political scientist is exaggerating, exposing Prayut Chan-ocha in too bad a light. However, it is clear that in Thai society there has long been an expectation of change and progressive reforms, fatigue from the irremovability of power and its conservative course. The national elections in May 2023 demonstrated this. Apparently, this was precisely the impulse that convinced Prayut Chan-Ocha to leave politics and give way to new political forces.